HOW THE MEDIA AND INSTITUTIONS FAILED: The harmful effects of sensationalist reporting on mass shootings in Serbia
It only took a few hours for a tragedy to become mired in sensationalism, disinformation, and unethical reporting. In the early hours of the morning of 3 May, eight students and a security guard were killed and six students and a teacher injured during a school shooting in Belgrade, Serbia. This was not only a …
Monthly Monitoring Highlights – hateful discourses in the Western Balkans
Throughout the month of April, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. This month we have spotted hatred against journalists and political opponents as well as religious, gender, and ethnic discrimination. Hatred against political opponents in Serbia In Serbia, during the morning show “Dobro jutro Srbijo” (Good Morning …
TROLL OF THE MONTH: Spartak Ngjela, lawyer and public figure
The Balkan Troll of the Month is an individual, a group of individuals or a media outlet that spreads hate based on gender, ethnicity, religion, or other diversity categories. The Balkan Troll is selected based on hate speech incidents identified across the Western Balkans region. During the month of April, in an interview held on …
HATE SPEECH AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN MONTENEGRO
Concerns have been raised about rising intolerance, the spread of hatred, and poor media standards following recent elections in Montenegro. The first round of presidential elections, which involved seven candidates, was held in Montenegro on 19 March. A second round of voting, with two candidates, took place on 2 April, with Jakov Milatović, the candidate …
TROLL OF THE MONTH – SELECTION CRITERIA
The goal of the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0 monitoring is to identify and document the most significant cases (‘incidents’) of hate speech and divisive discourses in the Western Balkans media. Incidents are defined by the speaker regardless of where they occurred, but monitoring refers to their media coverage. They can originate in the Parliament, party …
MEDIA MONITORING REPORTS: Hate speech in the Balkans mainly targets ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation
According to the media monitoring reports produced within the Reporting Diversity Network 2.0 project, three categories were identified as the main target of hate speech: ethnicity, gender identity and sexuality. These three categories which were the result of monitoring 465 single incidents across the region, make up more than fifty percent of cases (53,13%). Within …
ON FATHERS AND PATRIARCHS
CAN A BOY WHO GROWS UP IN A PATRIARCHAL SETTING EVER BECOME A GOOD FATHER? *The views expressed in the article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of K2.0 or RDN 2.0 A political debate regarding reproductive freedom and assisted fertility took place in Kosovo’s Assembly in mid March after a new draft …
Monthly monitoring highlights: a range of hateful discourse throughout March
Throughout the month of March, the RDN monitoring team has detected a range of hateful narratives and discourse. Transphobia and Homophobia in Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina In Albania, Syri TV’s morning show called ‘Kafe Shqeto’ invited a member of the queer community in Albania – Luana Myrto – a transgender woman as well as …
THE INVISIBLE BURDEN ON WOMEN JOURNALISTS
NEW REPORT CONFIRMS WIDE SCALE SEXISM IN KOSOVO’S NEWSROOMS. The majority of journalists reporting from the field on most Kosovar television networks are women. They even report in dangerous situations, such as during the recent tensions in the north of Kosovo. They do it all: protests, parties, vox-pop and more. More noteworthy is that over …
WHY DOES SERBIA GROW MANY A SAPIC AND JUST THE ODD GARY LINEKER
Manipulating the myth of Kosovo, the politics of Aleksandar Vučić has enabled public/media discourse to become consumed with hatred towards vulnerable groups (women, the LGBTQ+ population, people of different religious and political affiliations) and almost completely devoid of empathy and solidarity. When former British footballer and current sports presenter Gary Lineker tweeted about the UK …
